Immunohistochemical Analysis of Unc13b and Ubap2 in Prostate Cancer
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IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF UNC13B AND UBAP2 IN PROSTATE CANCER Timo Kopponen Syventävien opintojen kirjallinen työ University of Tampere Institute of Biomedical Technology Molecular Biology of Prostate Cancer -Group May 2014 1 Tampereen yliopisto Institute of Biomedical Technology Molecular Biology of Prostate Cancer –Group KOPPONEN TIMO: IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF UNC13B AND UBAP2 IN PROSTATE CANCER Kirjallinen työ, 18 s. Ohjaajat: Professori Tapio Visakorpi ja FT Leena Latonen Toukokuu 2014 Avainsanat: geenimonistuma, immunohistokemia, karsinogeneesi, proteiiniekspressio Eturauhassyöpä on miesten yleisin syöpä Euroopassa, poislukien ihosyövät. Syövän geneettisiä mekanismeja tunnetaan puutteellisesti. Geneettisen materiaalin monistumia ja deleetioita on tunnistettu useita. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin proteiinien UNC13B ja UBAP2 ilmentymistä eturauhassyöpänäytteissä, sekä niiden mahdollista yhteyttä kliinispatologisiin muuttujiin. Tutkittavat proteiinit värjättiin vasta-aineilla immunohistokemiallisesti. Yhteensä 477 prostatektomia-, sekä 230 hormoniriippumatonta eturauhassyöpänäytettä sisällytettiin analyysiin. Näytteet analysoitiin manuaalisesti virtuaalimikroskoopilla ja luokiteltiin neljään luokkaan värjäyksen intensiteetin mukaan. Intensiteettiä verrattiin PSA:han, Gleason-luokkaan, kuolleisuuteen, diagnoosi-ikään, TNM-luokitukseen, Ki-67:n ekspressioon sekä androgeenireseptorin ekspressioon. UNC13B:n ekspressio oli merkittävästi suurempi hormoniriippumattomissa näytteissä. Molempien proteiinien ekspressio kasvoi prostatektomianäytteissä yhdessä Ki-67:n ja androgeenireseptorin ekspression kanssa. Tulosten perusteella vaikuttaisi siltä, että UNC13B ja UBAP2-proteiinit ovat yhteydessä eturauhassyövän kehittymiseen. Niiden yhteyttä kliinispatologisiin muuttujiin ei kuitenkaan voitu osoittaa. Lisäksi näiden proteiinien vahva korrelaatio Ki-67:ään voisi auttaa ennakoimaan eturauhassyövän uusiutumista, mutta tämä tarvitsee lisätutkimuksia. 2 University of Tampere Institute of Biomedical Technology Molecular Biology of Prostate Cancer –Group KOPPONEN TIMO: IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF UNC13B AND UBAP2 IN PROSTATE CANCER Study report, 18 s. Supervisors: Prof. Tapio Visakorpi and PhD Leena Latonen May 2014 Keywords: genetic amplification, immunohistochemistry, carcinogenesis, protein expression Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men in Europe. Only a few genetic mechanisms of prostate cancer are known. Some amplifications and deletions of genetic material have been recognized. This study’s purpose was to investigate protein expression of UNC13B and UBAP2 in prostate cancer specimen and their possible association to clincopathological variables. Target proteins were immunohistochemically stained. A total of 477 primary prostatectomy samples and 230 hormone-refractory samples were included in the analysis. Specimens were analyzed manually with digital microscope. They were divided into 4 groups according to their staining intensity. Intensity level scores were compared to PSA-levels, Gleason scores, progression free survival, survival, age at diagnosis, tumors T-stage, Ki-67 expression and androgen receptor expression. Expression of UNC13B was significantly higher in hormone- refractory samples. Expression of protein Ki-67 and androgen receptor increased when scoring intensities of UNC13B and UBAP2 increased in prostatectomy samples. Findings suggest that expression of UNC13B and UBAP2 increase during prostate cancer development. However, associations between expression levels of these proteins and clinicopathological variables were not found. Strong correlation between Ki-67 and these two proteins in prostatectomy samples could mean that UNC13B and UBAP2 would predict cancer recurrence but this needs further research. 3 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................................................ 2 2.1. Prostate cancer ............................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2. Biology of prostate cancer .............................................................................................................................. 3 2.3. Genetic aberrations in prostate cancer ........................................................................................................... 5 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS .................................................................................... 6 3.1. Clinical prostate TMAs .................................................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Statistical analyses .......................................................................................................................................... 8 4. RESULTS ................................................................................................................... 8 5. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 15 6. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 17 4 1. INTRODUCTION The molecular and genetic mechanisms of prostate cancer are still insufficiently defined. Prostate cancer, like other cancers, is formed when the cellular mechanisms of controlling proliferation and/or apoptosis break down. This is thought to happen partly at chromosomal level, where deletions, gains, amplifications or translocations of the genes result in their deregulation, that affect the previously mentioned cellular mechanisms (Saramaki, 2006). Prostate cancer cells usually have somatic genome alterations and some of them are genetic (alterations in DNA sequence) and some epigenetic (DNA sequence unaltered). Of gene copy number alterations, both gains and deletions are common in prostate cancer. For better understanding of carcinogenesis of prostate cancer, these chromosomal alterations should be further studied to identify the tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes driving the cancer (Damber & Aus, 2008; Gurel et al., 2008). Researchers have access to a number of different xenografts, transplantations of human prostate cancer tissue to a different species, which are used to study the biology of prostate cancer. Using high resolution array-comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), a novel amplification at chromosome 9p13.3 was recently identified in prostate cancer xenograft LuCaP35 (Saramaki et al., 2006). Further research continued to study the amplification in 9p13.3 in prostate cancer xenografts and cell lines, aiming to identify genes whose amplified copy number increases their expression level. In clinical patient material, amplification of 9p13.3 area was slightly more common in hormone refractory prostate cancer specimens than in untreated prostatectomy tumors. A number of possible target genes were found, including UNC13B and UBAP2 (Leinonen, 2007). UNC13B is a cytosolic diacylglycerol -binding protein that belongs to the UNC13/munc13 family of proteins. It is involved in vesicle maturation during exocytosis as part of neurotransmitter release. Hyperglycemia is known to up-regulate UNC13B. Nevertheless, relevance of UNC13B in both epithelial cells and prostate cancer cells remains unknown. UBAP2 (ubiquitin associated protein 2) has a UBA domain and its function is also unknown (National Center for Biotechnology Information, ). The purpose of this study was to analyze UNC13B and UBAP2 protein expression levels in clinical prostatectomy and hormone-refractory tumor samples. One aim was also to discover possible associations between protein expression levels and clinical and pathological parameters. Ultimate goal 1 is, eventually, to determine if these two genes are potential oncogenes. This research project was conducted in Molecular Biology of Prostate Cancer –Group at University of Tampere. Supervision was performed by Professor Tapio Visakorpi and Leena Latonen, PhD. Collecting and analyzing the data were done during winter 2012-2013. 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The data for this literature review was collected from Ovid MEDLINE(R) Daily Update - and Ovid MEDLINE(R) In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations and Ovid MEDLINE(R) 1946 to Present -databases in June 2013. 2.1. Prostate cancer In Europe, prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men with an estimated 382,000 new cases in 2008. It is also the third most common cause of death from cancer in men with almost 90,000 deaths. Incidence has been increasing, except latest trends show that in Sweden, Finland and The Netherlands incidence is not growing or has even started to decrease. In Finland, mortality has declined significantly by 2,9% annually during 1998—2007 (Bray et al., 2010). There are only a few established risk factors for prostate cancer. These include positive family history, age and ethnicity. Prostate cancer risk is highest at the age of 70—74 and risk begins to increase after 55 years of age. African Americans have 60% higher risk than Caucasians for developing prostate cancer and their mortality is approximately double that of Caucasians (Gann, 2002). The true incidence of prostate cancer is higher than epidemiological studies show because not everyone develops symptoms, which is confirmed by autopsy findings (Damber & Aus, 2008). Prostate